Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 22:20:1412-1430.
doi: 10.17179/excli2021-4211. eCollection 2021.

Natural sweetener Stevia rebaudiana: Functionalities, health benefits and potential risks

Victoria Peteliuk  1 , Lesia Rybchuk  1 , Maria Bayliak  1 , Kenneth B Storey  2 , Oleh Lushchak  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Natural sweetener Stevia rebaudiana: Functionalities, health benefits and potential risks

Victoria Peteliuk et al. EXCLI J. .

Abstract

Stevia rebaudiana is a South American plant, the cultivation of which is increasing worldwide due to its high content of sweet compounds. Stevia sweetness is mainly due to steviol glycosides, that are ~250-300 times sweeter than sucrose. Many studies have suggested the benefits of Stevia extract over sugar and artificial sweeteners, but it is still not a very popular sugar substitute. This review summarizes current data on the biological activities of S. rebaudiana extract and its individual glycosides, including anti-hypertensive, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects and improvement of kidney function. Possible side effects and toxicity of Stevia extract are also discussed.

Keywords: Stevia rebaudiana; health benefits; rebaudioside A; stevioside; sweetener.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Comparison of biochemical content in fresh and dry extract from Stevia leaves
Table 2
Table 2. Fatty acid composition of S. rebaudiana leaf oil (g/100 g dry mass)
Table 3
Table 3. Content of minerals in dried leaves of S. rebaudiana (mg/100 g dry mass)
Table 4
Table 4. Biological activities of whole Stevia leaf extracts and individual Stevia glycosides
Figure 1
Figure 1. Chemical structure of two main compounds of Stevia leaves responsible for their sweet taste
Figure 2
Figure 2. Schematic summarizing of health-promoting effects of Stevia leaf extract and its constituents
Figure 3
Figure 3. Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of Stevia extracts
Figure 4
Figure 4. Protective effects of Stevia extracts in obesity, diabetes and its complications
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abo Elnaga NIE, Massoud MI, Yousef MI, Mohamed HHA. Effect of Stevia sweetener consumption as non-caloric sweetening on body weight gain and biochemical’s parameters in overweight female rats. Ann Agric Sci. 2016;61(1):155–63.
    1. Abou-Arab AE, Abou-Arab AA, Abou-Salem FM. Physico-chemical assessment of natural sweeteners steviosides produced from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant. Afric J Food Sci. 2010;4:269–80.
    1. Abudula R, Jeppesen PB, Rolfsen SED, Xiao J, Hermansen K. Rebaudioside A potently stimulates insulin secretion from isolated mouse islets: Studies on the dose-, glucose-, and calcium-dependency. Metabolism. 2004;53:1378–81. - PubMed
    1. Aguero SD, Onate G, Rivera HP. Consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners and nutritional status in 10-16-year-old students. Arch Argent Pediatr. 2014;112:207–14. - PubMed
    1. Ahmad U, Ahmad RS. Anti-diabetic property of aqueous extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves in Streptozotocin-induced diabetes in albino rats. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2018;18(1):179. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources